Yeah, but the fact that there have been 3 x 13" laptops in the line-up must have irked Apple no end. It would make more sense to have 4 physical models, each separated by capability. You could still have a 15" MBA, and a 15" MBA Pro. Now that the white 13" MB has gone - why have two models? There are three main reasons - Optical Drive, HD and Ports. The first is obvious: loose it. The second will be more problematic in terms of space, so I have no answer, and the third I imagine (hope) will be dealt with through Thunderbolt.

Apple has a patent for a hybrid SSD/HDD that fits in a 2.5" bay. They could potentially use that to the fast boot/wake in the MBAs. Or they could offer a dual-drive system that uses both the SSD card found in the MBAs and a 2.5" SSD/HDD drive.

In regards to ports, once you remove that ODD you give yourself 5.25" of port side space.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mstone

The only times I use an optical drive is when I have to send a huge publishing project to Japan or Europe. Many times those archives are 2-3 GB. I can FedEx them there by the time they could download them, if the download even makes it to the end without disconnecting for some reason.

The other thing we use DVDs for is backing up our accounting data and putting it in the fire safe off site. I don't want that stuff on somebody's computer or in the cloud and DVDs are a lot cheaper and more secure than USB memory sticks.

There are certainly uses for the ODD, no one is saying it's not used, but even years after Apple dropped the floppy drive and old ports there were still plenty of valid uses, they just become more fringe each year.

There is nothing saying your project can't use a desktop with an ODD or have an external ODD to complete the work.

As we've seen already the MBA is popular. So much so that the PC industry was heavily focused on it at this year's CES. The ODD simply has too many cons and not enough procs.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JJJameson

No, that's baloney. The Air at it's widest has more than enough room to accommodate it. They could stick it on the back where I've seen numerous other laptops put them.

On the back? where the display is? First of all, that would look awful so Apple won't put it there, secondly there isn't enough room for the electronics as the MBA top casing is milled from a single piece of aluminium to keep it rigid and thin. Just look at the sides of the MBA. There is no room for the height of the RJ-45 jack.

PS: It's 10Gb/s in EACH DIRECTION for a total max bandwidth of 20Gb/s.

Well it is supposed to be for Pros, right? Pros use ports and devices that consumers generally don't.

While I don't have much of a need for a ODD I can see where a professional photographer or video editor might need one often or often enough to want it in the machine rather than as a peripheral device.

I think there is room for a 15" MBA and 15" MBP. I don't know if Apple see it that way or not.

I have a 15" MBP and an 11" Mac Air. The Air is great for traveling when I need more than an iPad. A 15" Air would be great. But as for a replacement:

1. HDD would probably be a SSD in the Air and capacities are still pretty low. External drives are not a real option if this s to be one's main computer - even with the Cloud.

2. Gigabit ethernet is a must. The Thunderbolt or USB options are poor options if you connect regularly via this method. Not an option if you usually connect wirelessly.

3. Optical drives are definitely on their way out. Apple makes an excellent external USB optical drive. But there is still plenty of optical disks out there, particularly for business applications, and having the built-in drive is a big plus for the users that need it. While optical drives are on their way out, they're not dead just yet.

I'd also add the larger potential DRAM capacity of the current Pro over the Air. Having the option to get 8GB is very nice and makes a laptop a feasible development platform, 4GB gets a little tight at times.

Won't happen so long as they use their current hinge design. I see no evidence that they would move from this hinge design.

Indeed. Just saying I like not having things sticking out the side especially the right side since I use mine with a mouse often which I always connect with the cable around the back to the other side. And I dislike wireless mice especially the MM.

Well it is supposed to be for Pros, right? Pros use ports and devices that consumers generally don't.

While I don't have much of a need for a ODD I can see where a professional photographer or video editor might need one often or often enough to want it in the machine rather than as a peripheral device.

I think there is room for a 15" MBA and 15" MBP. I don't know if Apple see it that way or not.

Pros need a lot of things, but as a "pro" user I don't want 25% of my internals taken up by the ODD. Give me more space for ports. Give me more battery life. Give me more room for storage (this is what I do with an after market solution).

Saying you think the ODD has more cons than pros doesn't mean you want the ODD gone without nothing to take up it's slack, it's saying you want to usher in the old for the new.

The ODD is large and forces you place it on an edge. That's problem one because it means all designs revolve around it. You take that one and the MoBo no longer has to be squarish, but can be elongated to help with heat dissipation. It can also be placed along the back hinge of the device so that the CPU and dGPU can be cooled more efficiently. It really opens you up to a lot of new design concepts that you simply can't do with the ODD.

Indeed. Just saying I like not having things sticking out the side especially the right side since I use mine with a mouse often which I always connect with the cable around the back to the other side. And I dislike wireless mice especially the MM.

Pros need a lot of things, but as a "pro" user I don't want 25% of my internals taken up by the ODD. Give me more space for ports. Give me more battery life. Give me more room for storage (this is what I do with an after market solution).

Saying you think the ODD has more cons than pros doesn't mean you want the ODD gone without nothing to take up it's slack, it's saying you want to usher in the old for the new.

The ODD is large and forces you place it on an edge. That's problem one because it means all designs revolve around it. You take that one and the MoBo no longer has to be squarish, but can be elongated to help with heat dissipation. It can also be placed along the back hinge of the device so that the CPU and dGPU can be cooled more efficiently. It really opens you up to a lot of new design concepts that you simply can't do with the ODD.

I was amused by the sources cited on this article. They actually stated that it was speculation from an anonymous accessory maker. They're taking guesses and leveraging them into their plans for accessory designs. I'd actually like it if Apple did some of what you mention here in terms of heat dissipation. A silent machine that runs cooler, the potential for a second drive, or longer battery life would be very "Pro". I guess Apple can do whatever they like, but they pretty much address the capacity of what can really be addressed within the typical Air density. I am not sure how much they'd gain building a 15" Air. The weight also seems to be commonly misunderstood. I don't think the shell is a massive contributing factor there compared to what is inside it. The next time I do any real travel I plan to pick up what happens to be the current air just because it fits so well in a backpack. Unfortunately I doubt drive capacity will be greater at that time .

Ivy Bridge will have native support for USB 3.0. I say it is a high probability to be included. That should make it possible to have inexpensive adapters for high-speed Ethernet.

For a variety of reasons from security to reliability. This need for people to try to sell the reset of us USB to Ethernet adapters is very perplexing and indicates a simple understanding of the issues involved.

Why rush out to buy a Pro based on rumors? If Apple does drop it, there will be plenty of places to buy existing stock - and probably at a discount.

Best move is to buy a computer when you need it. If you don't need it, don't buy.

I don't see them killing the Pro at all. Read the quote - 'killing the Pro FOR THE AVERAGE CONSUMER'. I would anticipate that the Pro would remain the high end laptop.

One possible scenario would be to drop the 13" pro to make the new lines:

MBA - 11, 13, and 15"

MBP - 15 and 17"

The main differences would be that the Pro has more ports (including Ethernet), optical disk and discrete graphics. For some people that would be worth a significant premie, so I don't see how they would reduce prices.

It would, however, significantly reduce the volume of Pro systems. I suspect that there are a lot of people like me. I love the Air, but can't manage with a 13" screen. If there were a 15" Air, I'd buy one. If not, I'll get either a 15 or 17" Pro.

Best post I've read so far on this subject.

"One possible scenario would be to drop the 13" pro to make the new lines:

MBA - 11, 13, and 15"

MBP - 15 and 17"

This seems the most logical scenario to me as well. Also, don't forget the other advantages of the pro is that they have quad-core processors and can be expanded up to 8GB of RAM vs dual-core processors & 4GB of RAM on the MBA.

"One possible scenario would be to drop the 13" pro to make the new lines:

MBA - 11, 13, and 15"

MBP - 15 and 17"

This seems the most logical scenario to me as well. Also, don't forget the other advantages of the pro is that they have quad-core processors and can be expanded up to 8GB of RAM vs dual-core processors & 4GB of RAM on the MBA.

While I agree, I expect the next generation MBA to have an option of 8 GB of RAM on the motherboard. The Pro may have the option to go to 16 GB.